Atom & Cosmos

Topic Image Rail

WATER WORLDS The TRAPPIST-1 system, with seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a dwarf star, has captured the attention of scientists hunting for life outside the solar system. New estimates of the planets’ composition indicates that several are enveloped in water and ice.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

PRETTY PLANET One Strange Rock contains gorgeous images of Earth, such as these colorful hydrothermal fields in Dallol, Ethiopia.

Graham Booth/National Geographic

TOO BIG, TOO SOON Supermassive black holes that are actively feeding on gas and dust, like the one shown in this artist’s rendition, have been spotted in the early universe — before they should have had time to grow.